Well, dang. The thing I was having the most fun writing has gone dormant. The Charleston dining/entertainment/ real estate/ what have you site has gone on hiatus while the owner concentrates on his paying business (the NERVE!) Frankly, in a town as dining/entertainment/ real estate/ what have you as Charleston, the field of dining/entertainment/ real estate/ what have you websites is crowded, to say the least. Every time you turn around, a new one has popped up. Just the other day, I saw a CARTA bus with the full screen print wrap treatment advertising a new site – and this one had local geriatric newscasting legend Warren-freaking-Peper endorsing it! Grrr!

Well, it all goes naptime on good terms and, if it revives, I am sure I will be included in the festivities. I sure hope so – it’s a great gig! I invite you to check it out, because there’s a whole lot to like – even in limbo! PremiereCharleston.com

I have copywriting clients from here (Charleston SC) to hell and gone – corporations, MarComm agencies, web design/marketing firms and so on. I have never been one to place all of my ova into one woven cellulose conveyance.

As the recession wore on, that policy served me well. One client might be booming while another was dry. Other times, several of them might all be running at a middling pace. It all evened out somewhat.

But as the downturn continued to, um, downturn, it seemed like all of them were drying up at the same time. And suddenly I started paying attention to all of those annoying “Copywriter Jobs in Charleston” emails I subscribed to but never opened.

On a sleepless Saturday night about a month ago I saw and ad for – get ready – Copywriter Charleston. It was a blind recruiting agency ad looking for copywriting experience in web, print, video, packaging, point of sale, and trade show materials. It all seemed like a good fit, so at 3:30 in the A of M I rifled through my archives and uploaded resume, references, samples, etc. I hit submit, and commenced the Waiting Game. (“I’m sick of the Waiting Game! Let’s play Hungry Hungry Hippos!” – Homer Simpson.)

It’s a month later, and I am working for a global consumer products giant based in Europe. The local branch does consumer electronics accessories. Good folks, lots of creativity in the air, cool downtown location. And, though you might not see this as a benefit, I work half time so I can maintain my current clients. Of course, the moment I begin this new endeavor, everybody who was dormant suddenly started calling again. This is a problem I can deal with!

So that explains my absence for the last month. Going forward, I think for the time being I will do some repost-with-comments from the last 2.33 years of Lively Exchange. So if you are down with a little short-term rehash, stay tuned!

Frank DeFord definitely has nothing to worry about from me. Still, I had a crapload of fun summarizing my first Charleston RiverDogs experience for PremiereCharleston.com.

As Tom Hanks once declared, there is no crying in baseball. In Charleston, however, there is sweating. There’s a lot of sweating, and not just in the cheap seats. Even non-VIPs like me who somehow scored a spot in the air-conditioned luxury box were gripped by the Sweaty Fist of Oppression™.

The Charleston portal site I write for assigned the task of describing Charleston’s Coastal Beauty and Diversity entitled, appropriately enough, “Charleston’s Coastal Beauty and Diversity.” Inspired by the BP oil spill in the Gulf, obviously. Too late to include in the article, I just saw a TV commercial for “Northwest Florida: NOT an Oil-Stained Wasteland Yet.” So, you know, pack up the kids and head for Marco Island…quickly! Here’s an excerpt…

Dateline: Kiawah Beach, SC. Moms and dads sizzle in the sun. Diaper-butted babies splash in tidal pools. 10-year-old boys wipe out spectacularly on boogie boards. People of all shapes and sizes bob in the waves. Farther out, the occasional dolphin fin breaches the surface, and pelicans do that insane kamikaze dive of theirs. Out on the misty horizon, a half-dozen shrimp boats ply their trade, harassed by squadrons of gulls.

Oh my. White papers. In my day-to-day blogging life, I get a lot of mileage out of humor, sarcasm, cluelessness, and being a dope in general. But a white paper is the one instance where you simply can’t joke around. You are expected to make a point, to explain, to elucidate, to persuade, to basically NOT be a dork. In other words, my safety net is gone.

For those who care to be illuminated on the topic, what are the necessary components of a white paper? Well, I pulled this from somewhere, and I can’t recall where. My regular readers know that I am always diligent about citing my sources. This time, I just can’t remember where I got this.

Anyway, a good white paper should do the following:

Begin with a well developed overview/executive summary/abstract: Attention grabbing, one-paragraph summary of problem, solution and hint of results.

State the Problem: Two-to-three paragraphs demonstrating your knowledge of your clients’ challenges and industry trends. Identify the main objectives of the paper.

Conclude: with confidence and credibility Refer to the abstract and summarize your main advantages

So, that’s the setup. The topic at hand is E-commerce, and why a small business owner should take the plunge into online retail. It’s a four part thing that included several interviews, tons of research and a bunch of anxiety about whether I sounded like I knew what I was talking about. I suppose I will let you be the judge. Of the four parts, the first two are online. Enjoy! Or, rather, endure!

Instead of writing about writing, I thought I would write about what I am writing. You’re welcome. Manning the cultural desk (I love saying that) of PremiereCharleston.com, it’s not always easy to come up with topics to write about. And some weeks, Monday blog deadline day seems to roll around very quickly.

So, imagine my delight when an outdoor symphony concert was scheduled close to home on a Saturday night! Then, imagine my disappointment when it was postponed due to rain! What is a writer to do? Well, if you’re me, you write an entire blog about what a drag it is when the thing you were going to write about gets cancelled. Trust me, it is as exciting as it sounds! Don’t believe me? Then experience the smooth tobacco satisfaction for yourself! Um, HERE.